The Gospel According to Spiderman

I don't know if you've seen Spiderman 3 or not, but it's a great one for spiritual discussions. There is a definite link between the doctrine of sin and Batman's new 'black persona'.

There is also a strong imagery of the power of God. Spiderman sheds his evil at a church. Good move. I think it's also interesting to see that Spiderman is Arminian rather than Calvinist. It's his choice to turn good again. He’s the one who gets rid of the evil side. In fact, the main message is that you can choose to be whatever you want to be. (I can imagine John Calvin watching this movie, popcorn in hand, screaming at the screen, “It’s God, not you!”) If the movie were to be more Calvinistic, Spiderman’s “conversion” would have been a bit less of him.

I know, I'm reading too much into a comic book movie. But it is important to understand that every piece of good art tells a story and has a certain point of view. (Spiderman 3 good art?)

Anyway, thumbs up for the movie. Thumbs down for my stupid decision to go the day after it opened at a 3:00 matinee. What was I thinking? There were out-of-control five-year-olds running everywhere and kicking the back of my seat through the whole movie. Grrrr . . . (If only I had spidey powers; I could have tied them all to their seats.)